


Teen! Miss Congeniality

by LilAnnieSunshine



Category: Naruto
Genre: Beauty Pageant AU, Female Friendship, Friendship, Gen, Inspired by Miss Congeniality, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, sakura's new grove
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-27
Updated: 2021-02-06
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:27:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 18,629
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23876182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LilAnnieSunshine/pseuds/LilAnnieSunshine
Summary: Sakura is the student of one of the most powerful ninja ever, but since Naruto and Sasuke left, she's still the only Genin in Konoha without a team!She's lonely and longing for a mission. Her prayer is answered by a teen beauty queen with iconic pink hair. She requests a kunoichi stand in for her at an upcoming pageant because she's being threatened. Kakashi is along for the ride.A miss congeniality AU in which Sakura is a teenage Sandra Bullock and Kakashi is Michael Caine.
Relationships: Haruno Sakura & Hatake Kakashi
Comments: 16
Kudos: 22





	1. Prologue

Sakura knew what they said about her. They pitied her, the genin without a team. Her first teammate left the village to join a known criminal. Her second teammate left on better terms, going off to train with one of the most renowned ninja ever. Even her jonin leader was more frequently assigned to other duties since he didn’t have a full team of genin to guide.

Sakura tried her best to keep busy, she was forever grateful to the Fifth Hokage for taking her under her wing and teaching her how to use medical ninjutsu and sharing the secrets of her strength and chakra control. Still, a little over a year had passed since both Sasuke and Naruto left the village and she felt their absence every day.

The Fifth Hokage was off meeting with other leaders from the five great nations. She patted Sakura on the head and told her to read some old scrolls about medical ninjutsu, a task Sakura quickly completed. Tsunade would be gone for _days_ and, without her approval, Sakura would have nothing to do except sit at home questioning her life choices.

“Sakura! We’re leaving!” Her mother called to her from downstairs.

Sakura, still in her pajamas at noon, slowly walked downstairs to hug her parents goodbye. They were also leaving, going on a trip for their fifteenth anniversary. Sakura wished them farewell as her mother went over the list of chores Sakura would have to complete before they came home.

Sakura just nodded and agreed absentmindedly.

It had been _forever_ since she had been sent on a mission. As a genin, she wasn’t qualified for anything solo, and most clients preferred a team of three genin with a jonin leader, even for low-ranking missions.

Ino’s team was off on a mission escorting some feudal lord’s son to a neighboring kingdom so he could meet a bride. Ino had cheekily told Sakura before they left on the mission that the lord would fall in love with _her._ Sakura crossed her best friend off of the list of people she could hang out with today.

Hinata’s team was also on a mission. They were tracking some rich family’s dog that went missing while on a camping trip. It was nothing glamorous, but still a way to pass the time, and get paid. That meant no Hinata to hang out with either.

Lee’s team was off on some super-secret training retreat with Gai-sensei. According to Tenten, it was something they did as a team for a weekend _every_ year, and it was brutal.

_“My body is still sore from last year.” Tenten grumbled._

_Meanwhile Lee was pumped up, going on and on about the special training. He invited Sakura, but Gai-sensei was against it._

_“No can do, Lee.” Gai explained. “She’s Kakashi’s student, and I can’t have my rival stealing my top-secret training techniques.” He then turned his attention to Sakura. “You understand, right? It’s nothing against you.”_

_Sakura nodded in agreement._

At the time, Sakura wasn’t even sure she wanted to go, but today it seemed like _anything_ be better than being alone with her thoughts. Maybe she could’ve talked Gai-sensei into letting her train with them, after all, she hadn’t even seen Kakashi-sensei in what felt like forever.

She finally decided, if she couldn’t train _with_ Lee’s team, she could at least train like them. She made her way to Team Seven’s training grounds and tried not to get swept up in the nostalgia. She set up some targets and started throwing shuriken. When her arms got tired, she moved to beating up a dummy.

It started pouring rain, cold and hard, she couldn’t tell anymore if the stinging she felt was from the rain or from her sore muscles, still she didn’t stop, because if she stopped, the tears would start.

Kakashi was also in a funk today. He returned from a solo mission, delivering top secret documents to the land of wind, something worthy of his status, but he longed for something _less._ If Sasuke and Naruto were still around, he’d probably be off with his genin on some low-level escort mission or doing manual labor. As someone who failed every set of genin he ever had, Kakashi had quickly gotten attached to the only ones who ever passed his test.

He decided to head by the training grounds and see how it was doing. Team 7 being out of practice meant the training grounds weren’t being properly maintained. He should at least check out the damage.

When he got to the training grounds, he was pleasantly surprised to see Sakura out solo-training. He couldn’t remember the last time he saw her, Tsunade kept them both plenty busy. He noted the slight changes a little over a year had made, Sakura was few inches taller, her face was less round, and she kept her hair short, making her look more mature.

She was a far cry from the twelve-year-old girl he met two years ago, the one who needed the most protection out of her teammates. Still, he felt just as protective of her at age fourteen as he did at twelve.

He went up to greet her, but the look on her face made him stop in his tracks. Her breathing was erratic and her eyes were red and puffy. Her aim was getting sloppier and sloppier as she tried to hit the targets on the punching bag.

“Sakura,” He said gently.

“Sensei.” She managed to choke out as she hit the punching bag again, way off center from the red target in the stomach.

“How long have you been at this?” His voice took a more stern tone noticing the way her body would shake with exhaustion after every punch.

“A few hours, I guess.”

For all of her weak points, Sakura had plenty of stamina, so Kakashi realized she’d probably lost track of time. He looked at the sky, it was getting darker, and would be night soon.

“Your parents are probably waiting on you for dinner.” He told her, hoping she’d realize how late it was and go home.

“No. They’re out of town.” She said, completely missing the punching bag this time. She winced as her hand made contact with hard wood. She doubled over, holding her aching hand.

Kakashi went over to her and helped her stand back up. No parents, no Tsunade, and no teammates. He realized Sakura was probably just as lonely as he was, if not more. “Let’s get you home.” Kakashi said gently.

“I don’t want to go.” She said weakly.

“Sakura, you’re exhausted, you’re soaking wet and you’re going to make yourself sick if you keep at this. You’re going home.” He said in his sternest teacher voice.

Sakura relented, letting Kakashi help her to her feet and walk her home. To her surprise, he came inside with her, shaking like a wet dog when they got in the house. “Do you have any soup?” asked Kakashi.

“There’s some in the pantry.” Sakura said, surprised at the question.

Kakashi nodded. “You should get out of those wet clothes and take a bath. I’m going to heat up some soup for you.”

Sakura was about to protest, she was old enough to take care of herself, but her stomach growled, betraying her. She couldn’t even remember if she had eaten that day, she was too busy trying to push the loneliness out of her mind. Besides, the man was her sensei, this wouldn’t be the first time he had taken care of her.

“Pots?” Asked Kakashi.

Sakura went over to a cabinet and pulled out a small pot and handed it to him before she went to the bathroom to take a shower.

Kakashi selected a can of chicken noodle soup, knowing Sakura probably _would_ be sick the next morning if not later that night. She needed something in her stomach she could keep down to keep her strength up. He brought the soup to a boil on the stove. Then he put the contents in a bowl to cool a little before Sakura ate it.

Sakura got out of the shower, skin angry and red from the heat of the water. She practically scalded her skin trying to sooth herself. The hot water did bring her some comfort. She wrapped up in a fluffy white bathrobe and patted her hair with a towel to take out some of the water. She emerged from the bathroom surprised to find Kakashi still in the house, but too exhausted to care.

Kakashi put the bowl of soup on the table and gestured for her to sit.

Sakura was too tired to fight him as she went into a drawer and grabbed a large spoon. She sat at the table and took a spoonful of soup and blew on it.

Kakashi sat across from her at the table. “You want to tell me what’s bothering you?”

“Nothing.” Sakura grumbled around the spoon. She felt like she put too much pressure on her sensei when she was younger, always coming to him when she was worried about Naruto and Sasuke.

What she didn’t know was that Kakashi never minded. He much preferred assuring her that everything would be alright than dealing with Sasuke’s angst and arrogance, or Naruto’s over-confidence and short sighted planning.

Kakashi got up again, placing a hand on her forehead. She was warmer than she should’ve been. “Well, your temperature says something different. A medical ninja like you should know better than to make yourself sick training.”

Sakura shot him a glare. It was the meanest look she had ever given him. She had been mad at him before, but it was usually when he was late and limited to a frustrated pout. The look she gave him now was frustrated too, but deeply tired.

“Do you miss Naruto and Sasuke?” asked Kakashi, placing a hand on her back. He knew she had to be lonely, but he didn’t want to force her to say it.

“Of course, I miss them. I’m the only genin in Konoha that doesn’t have a team.” She said glumly between spoonfulls of soup.

_“So that’s where the anger is coming from.”_ Kakashi could tell she was a little angry at him for being away on missions without her. He knew she knew he had no control over where he was sent, but his absence still hurt.

“I’m done, you can leave now.” Said Sakura getting up and putting her bowl and spoon in the sink along with the pot Kakshi used earlier. She moved to wash the dishes but Kakshi stopped her.

“I’ll do it, why don’t we get you to bed?”

“You’re not putting me to bed. I’m not a little girl anymore, you old pervert.” The statement became less angry as she spoke it. She even managed to crack a smile when she called him a pervert.

_“This is what I get for reading ‘Makeout Paradise’ in front of them.”_ Kakashi chuckled. “How about a bedtime story?”

Sakura could see the laughter in his eyes. She’d call his bluff. “Fine. I’ll sit on the couch. Make it good.”

Kakashi rolled his eyes. The couch was small, so Kakashi and Sakura were practically touching when he came over and sat down.

Sakura grabbed a pillow and hugged it to her chest.

“Once upon a time,” Kakashi started. “There was a beautiful young medic-nin…”

“Keep talking.” Said Sakura enjoying the flattery.

“She was very talented, and sweet, and her teammates cared about her very deeply…”

“Mmmhmm.” Sakura said, resting her head on a couch cushion.

“And her sensei knew one day she’d become one of the greatest medics in the village….”

“Hmm.” Sakura closed her eyes.

“But one day she got captured…” the words came out of his mouth before he realized what was happening. _“Rin.”_

  
“This isn’t turning into very nice story, sensei.” Sakura said, eyes still closed.

“Let me finish,” He looked down at her exhausted face. “And her teammates came to rescue her. The experience made them put aside their differences and bond.”

Sakura smiled, but kept her eyes closed. _“Sasuke. Naruto.”_

 _“Obito…”_ Kakashi’s mind wandered. He’d really had to turn the story around. “And while they went to rescue the medic, they got in trouble. Luckily they all managed to escape and everyone lived happily ever after thanks to her healing abilities. The end.” He finished quickly.

Sakura was already asleep, her head had drooped to his shoulder and a little bit of drool was coming out of her mouth. Kakashi chuckled and picked her up.

She clung to his vest, still half asleep. “Sensei…” She said groggily.

“What is it?” he asked as he gently put her on her bed.

“I miss you too. Not just Naruto and Sasuke.” And then she was out.

Kakashi sighed. She was lonely. He knew the feeling, having lost both teammates and his sensei. Naruto wasn’t gone forever, and Kakashi wasn’t about to leave this world anytime soon, but Sasuke… where he went he might as well have been dead. Still, they weren’t a team anymore, and Kakashi could relate to the loneliness.

He summoned Pakkun.

“Yeah.” Pakkun said, sitting on Sakura’s bed.

“I should go.”

Pakkun noted the sleeping, under-aged girl next to him. “Yeah.”

“Keep an eye on her?”

Pakkun just nodded and snuggled up to Sakura. She was a good kid. He’d keep her safe.


	2. Chapter 1

Sakura woke up with a splitting headache. _“That’s the last time I ‘train like Lee’s team’.”_ She thought. She jerked back when she saw Pakkun staring at her. The motion rattled her already pounding head. “Ow.”

“You’re finally awake.” Pakkun commented.

“What time is it?” asked Sakura, rubbing her temples.

“Nearly noon.” Pakkun pointed a paw at the clock in Sakura’s room.

Sakura thought about being angry, then remembered she had no obligations other than the chores her mother gave her until Tsunade returned.

Pakkun could sense her annoyance. “I figured I’d just let you sleep. You looked like you were in bad shape last night.”

“Kakashi told you to watch me?” asked Sakura sitting up and propping herself up on a pillow.

“Yeah.” Pakkun answered simply nodding his head.

“Tell sensei ‘thank you’ but I don’t need a babysitter.” Sakura laughed annoyed.

“Well, it’s a good thing I’m a dog.” Pakkun said bluntly, making Sakura laugh in earnest. “Take care of yourself, Sakura.” With that, Pakkun disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Sakura spent the next few days before Tsunade’s return nursing her cold. She went to the hot springs to calm her sore muscles and joints, and found she felt a lot better. She worked on perfecting her food pill recipe. _“Now if only I could get them to taste good.”_ She even did all of the chores her mother asked her to do.

She barely slept a wink that night. Tsunade would return the next day and she’d _finally_ get back to work on her training to become a medic, not to mention learning the secret to Tsunade’s monstrous strength. She was too excited to return to her training.

Tsunade was expecting Sakura in her office bright and early that morning. So she wasn’t surprised to be greeted by a flash of pink appearing out of the coroner of her eye.

“Ah. Sakura –“

“Please, call me Mimi.”

Tsunade had to do a double take. The girl standing in her office had Sakura’s pink hair, but it was longer. She also had a similar facial structure to Sakura, right down to the large forehead, but her eyes were a clear gray. She was about the same height as Sakura, maybe a little taller, and her figure was fuller. She was dressed casually in a mint green sundress with wedge sandals. _“She could be Sakura’s older sister.”_ Tsunade thought to herself before questioning the girl’s presence in her office. “Who are you?” she barked at the girl taken by surprise.

“Mimi Mitsuya.” The girl said extending her hand for a handshake. “You’re the Fifth Hokage right?” she cocked her head to the side.

Tsunade slowly blinked at her. How could this girl not know whose office she was in? If she didn’t know who Tsunade was, she wasn’t from the Leaf Village. How did she even get into the village? “How did you get in here? And to answer your question, yes.”

“I flirted with your guards.” She said slyly with a toss of her hair.

Tsunade didn’t know if she should be angry or impressed that the girl made it this far. “And how did you get into my village?”

“I flirted with those guards too, but don’t worry, I also have the proper paperwork.” She handed Tsunade her passport from the Mist Village. “I’m here on business.”

Tsunade snatched the papers from Mimi and looked them over. “You’re a beauty pageant contestant?”

“Teen Miss Mist Village, at your service.” Mimi beamed.

“And you want to hire one of my kunoichi to stand in for you because you’re being _threatened?”_

“You got it.” Mimi nodded.

Tsunade rubbed her temples. “And why, pray tell, do you want to hire one of my kunoichi when you could hire one from your village?”

Mimi flipped her hair. “In the pageant circuit, I’m known for my natural pink hair, ‘The Cherry Blossom In The Mist’ is what they started calling me. I heard a little rumor that this village had a cute little pink haired kunoichi who would be a _perfect_ stand-in.”

Tsunade couldn’t believe this girl came all the way to Konoha just to find a stand in. “You know,” Tsunade said slyly. “I could literally give you _any_ of my ninja, even the men, all they’d have to do is a transformation jutsu to look just like you –“

Mimi considered it briefly. “Seems like a waste of chakra.”

Tsunade blinked. She did _not_ expect this girl to know anything about ninja arts. “Why do you need a stand-in? I could assign you any number of talented ninja who would be more than happy to protect you during the pageant.”

“Look, I’m used to creeps sending me vaguely threatening fan mail, but this is next level. Some crime boss in some back water part of the country wants to marry me and says he’ll have his thugs kidnap me if I don’t come willingly.”

“A body guard should be sufficient-“

“I want a stand-in for extra security. If my stand-in gets captured they can take down the thugs in no time, and put an end to future kidnapping threats. If the kidnappers get wise to the plot, my stand-in can still act as my body guard.”

“You think you’ll need extra security?” Tsunade raised her eyebrows.

“The Mist Village is one of the five great nations, sure, but it’s also the smallest. It’s a bleak place, with a seedy reputation, I’m sure _you_ know how many missing-nin we have. I wasn’t cut out to be a ninja, so I started doing pageants to make a name for myself and make some money.”

Tsunade nodded at her to continue, deciding to hear her sob story.

“Life is hard for the women in my village, men in the Mist aren’t as civilized as he men in other villages. Sexual violence is a real problem, even for kunoichi. But –“ Mimi’s eyes shone as she spoke. “We recently got a new leader, Lady Mei Terumi is now the Mizukage and she’s doing her best to end the culture excess violence. She put an end to the brutal ninja academy graduation ritual and is working toward peace by cracking down on violent crime. Since she became Mizukage, I changed my platform to supporting our brave kunoichi and stopping sexual violence. I want a kunoichi who will show those thugs that no woman is an object to be possessed.”

Tsunade was a little impressed, the girl was a talented speaker, which must have won her quite a few points in the interview segment of the pageants. But there was still one question her little speech didn’t answer. “If you respect Terumi so much and want to help the kunoichi of your village, why not hire one of them?”

“I actually talked to Lady Mizukage about it. I told her how much I respected her and the kunoichi of our village, but I _needed_ a girl with pink hair to do this right. She heard a story about a girl with pink hair from the Leaf Village being on the team that defeated Zabuza. She gave me permission to come here.”

Just then, Sakura walked through the door arms full of the scrolls Tsunade asked her to read.

Just like that, Mimi’s public speaking persona was gone. “Oh my God!” Mimi cried in delight running over to inspect Sakura. “Is this her? She’s _adorable!”_ Mimi pulled Sakura into a hug.

Sakura dropped the scrolls she was carrying in surprise and gave Tsunade a confused look.

“You just _have_ to let me take her. She’s _perfect_.” Mimi batted her eyelashes at Tsunade.

Tsunade sighed. “Sakura, meet Mimi Mitsuya, ‘The Cherry Blossom Of The Hidden Mist.’ She’s Teen Miss Mist Village.”

Sakura looked at Mimi’s smiling face. It was like looking in the mirror, except Mimi radiated confidence and beauty. Compared to Mimi, Sakura felt plain. “Hold on.” Said Sakura. “What’s going on?”

“Mimi here is being threatened by some old creep who wants to marry her. She came here to ask one of our kunoichi to stand in for her at the Teen Miss Hidden Village Pageant this weekend.”

Mimi gave Sakura one of her _literally_ award-winning smiles. “And you’re the perfect candidate, my dear.”

“What?” Said Sakura. She couldn't believe this girl thought she could be a pageant girl. 

Tsunade sighed and rubbed her temples again. “Mimi, I don’t know how you do things in the Hidden Mist, but here the _Hokage_ decides who takes on what mission, not the individual ninja or the client. The client can make requests but the final decision lies with the Hokage.”

Mimi didn’t beg. It was beneath her. She let go of Sakura and directed her attention back to Tsunade. “When will I have my answer?”

“Give me a day to think about this mission. The girl you’re requesting _is_ my apprentice. I may need her by my side.”

“I understand.” Mimi said. She was adamant that she _try_ to get a girl with pink hair to stand-in for her, but respected the bureaucracy.

“You can meet me back here tomorrow at this time, I’ll let you know who I’m assigning to the mission then.”

“Thank you, Lady Hokage.” Mimi said and walked out the door.

Once she was gone. Sakura cleaned the scrolls off of the floor. She noted the troubled expression on Tsunade’s face. “Can I do anything for you Lady Tsunade?” Sakura asked.

“Could you go to my favorite tea shop and get me my usual? I think I feel a migraine coming on?”

Sakura sighed out a “yes,” and went on her way. She was hoping for some action now that her teacher was back but it didn’t look like it was going to happen today.

Once Sakura was out of the room, Tsunade turned her head to her window. “Alright, Kakashi, come in. I know you haven’t just been hanging out on my roof because you were ‘in the neighborhood.’”

Kakashi came in through the window and stood across from Tsunade. “I think you should let Sakura take the mission.”

“Who asked you?” Said Tsunade, who had _enough_ of people demanding she put a certain person on a mission for one day.

“Sakura is missing out on the missions the other genin get to go on because she doesn’t have a team. I haven’t been much use to her either nowadays since I’m always on missions that are out of her ballpark.”

“Sakura is the apprentice to the Fifth Hokage. Plenty of genin would kill for that chance.”

Kakashi’s eyes softened. “Just like plenty of genin would kill to be traveling with Jiraiya and unfortunately, a handful would kill to learn from Orochimaru. How did you feel when your teammates left, Tsunade?”

Tsunade looked down sadly. Jiriaya was a pervert and a moron but he was the only loved one from her youth who was still alive… and not evil. Orochimaru… no matter how bad he got, part of her would always love him, the way he was acting now, he was better off dead. “I suppose you want to go with her then?” Tsunade said slowly.

“We haven’t gone on a mission together since Sasuke left. She needs this.”

Tsunade could tell by the look in Kakashi’s eyes that he needed this, too. There were no specific tasks she needed Sakura for this week, just more training for Sakura’s own benefit. Tsunade got out some more scrolls. “I’m approving the mission. You two will escort her to the Mist Village and then Sakura will stand-in for her during the pageant. When Sakura isn’t busy with the mission, I expect her to be studying these scrolls to keep up with her training.”

Kakashi nodded in understanding.

“Wonderful. You’ll leave for the Hidden Mist Village with Team 8 tomorrow morning.”

“Why Team 8?” Asked Kakashi.

“Didn’t you hear? Hinata is Teen Miss Leaf Village. I thought it was only appropriate to send her actual team to help protect her.”

Kakashi understood, while Hinata could handle petty thieves and creeps who could attack on the way to the Mist Village, there would no doubt be _experienced_ ninja with plans to steal the Byakugan.

“I’ll let Sakura know.” Kakashi said and then disappeared from the room in a cloud of smoke.


	3. Chapter 2

Sakura threw the last of her traveling clothes, survival gear, and ninja tools in a backpack. Kakashi told her the clothes she would have to wear at the pageant were covered in Mimi’s payment to the Hokage. _“Thank God.”_ Sakura thought. She got an eyeful of Mimi’s chest when she hugged her in the Hokage’s office. She and Mimi were close to the same height and weight, but there was no way Mimi’s clothes would fit her properly based on chest size alone. _“Not to mention I have nothing appropriate in my closet.”_ Sakura thought of all the outfits pageant contestants had to wear: evening gown, she had nothing like that; talent costume, what even _was_ her talent? The only thing she did own that she knew would be needed for an event was a bathing suit, although hers was probably not glitzy enough to gain her any attention.

_“How am I even going to make it through this thing?”_ She thought, wishing her parents goodbye and heading down the road. Sakura thought of herself as a pretty girl, sure. She had plenty of boys whose eyes she caught over the years. _“But never the one who mattered.”_ She tried her best to push thoughts of Sasuke out of her mind. _“It’s not like quests for revenge leave a lot of time for romance.”_

Even if she could impress some boys her own age, how was she ever going to impress as panel of _judges_? Sakura could only hope Mimi could coach as well as she could convince others to listen to her.

Sakura was in a funk when she felt someone run up behind her and hug her. “They sent you? I’m so pleased!” The voice came from behind her.

Sakura whipped around, she thought the voice sounded familiar, but she wanted to make sure. Once again it was like looking in the mirror, even more so this time since Mimi ditched her high-heeled wedges for some practical, but still cute, sandals, bringing them to the same height.

Sakura couldn’t help but stare at Mimi. She was wearing a simple yellow blouse and light blue, denim shorts, and looked _effortlessly_ cute. _“How am I supposed to pretend to be this girl?”_

Mimi just smiled. “So tell me all about yourself.”

Sakura walked with Mimi through the village to the main gates. “My name is Sakura Haruno, I’m fourteen, I’m a genin, and I’m the apprentice to the Fifth Hokage.” Sakura figured that covered all of the bases.

“I’m Mimi Mitsuya, I’m sixteen, and I’m making the world more peaceful, one pageant at a time.” Mimi twirled happily.

Sakura couldn’t decide how she felt about Mimi. In a way, Mimi reminded her of herself when she was younger, thinking that beauty and love could prevail over all things. _“Maybe it still can?”_ As much as she tried to be realistic, she was an eternal optimist.

They made it to the front gate where Team 8 was waiting for them, Kakashi was nowhere in sight.

“You’re Mimi Mitsuya? Teen Miss Mist Village?” Asked Hinata, lavender eyes wide at the girl’s resemblance to Sakura. Hinata had memorized the pageant orientation pamphlet she was given, not wanting to be rude and forget someone’s name, but Mimi’s was wearing heavy makeup in her picture, not like the fresh-face Hinata saw before her now.

“The very one.” Mimi reached out and pulled Hinata into a hug, drawing a squeak out of the younger girl.

“Wow, you and Sakura really do look like sisters.” Kurenai said looking at Sakura and Mimi side by side. Kurenai had opted for her jonin vest and red bodysuit for the mission, knowing it would require a lot of travel.

Kiba and Shino were standing by. Kiba was at a loss for words in the presence of Mimi and Shino was just enjoying Kiba being quiet for once.

“I guess we’re just waiting for Kakashi-sensei?” said Sakura a little annoyed. He was _always_ the reason they were late.

Kurenai gave her a knowing smile. “I’m sure he’ll grace us with his presence any minute.”

Akamaru came up to Mimi and sniffed. He barked at her cheerfully.

“Oh. My. GOD! A puppy!” She squealed in delight and went to pet Akamaru.

Akamaru let her pet him, seeing the way she hugged Hinata earlier, he knew this was a friend.

Kiba was surprised. “He doesn’t normally like strangers.”

“I’m sure we’ll all be _very_ well acquainted by the time we finish this mission.” Mimi gave him a wink.

Kiba blushed.

Kurenai tried her best not to laugh. Kiba talked a big game but he still didn’t know what to do about girls.

“You packed light.” Said Mimi to Hinata, noting the small backpack she wore. “Where are you going to put the rest of your pageant stuff?”

“Oh, my pageant coach made sure everything got shipped to our hotel in the Mist Village.”

“Cool.” Mimi pulled Sakura into a hug. “We’re going to have to go shopping for this one when we get to my village. If there’s anything you’ve forgotten, we’d be glad to take you.”

“I wouldn’t worry about that,” Hinata smiled. “My coach is the best in the business.”

“You got Daisuke Eda?”  
“What? No.” Hinata had never actually heard of that person, she mostly got into pageants at the behest of her family as a way to bring honor to them. “My coach is Kurenai-sensei.”

“I thought that was some professional-grade makeup application.” Said Mimi inspecting Kurenai’s face closer.

“You’re a pageant coach?” Asked Sakura.

Kurenai laughed. “You’re not the first Konoichi to go undercover at one of these things. Anko never let me live it down –“

“And as I recall, Asuma was _especially_ fond of that mission.”

Everyone turned around to see Kakashi. He smiled at them from behind his mask.

Kurenai blushed and cursed Kakashi inwardly. Unlike Asuma, she was clear with her students about her relationship with him, at least that they were dating. Her students didn’t need the intimate details and she didn’t need Kakashi putting any ideas in their heads with his implications.

“Finally, Kakashi-sensei.” Sakura gave him a pout.

Kakashi looked at her warmly. “Sorry, I just got lost on the path of life.” It had been a while since she got mad at him for being late to something, mostly because this was their first mission together since Sasuke left. He missed the cross look on her face.

“Why don’t we get going?” asked Kurenai, who started walking down the road. The rest followed.

“It’s been a while since I’ve been to the Mist Village,” Sakura said thinking back to her first big mission with her team. “How long do we travel again?”

“It’s two days on foot and two at sea.” Said Mimi, stretching.

“How did you make it here all by yourself?” Asked Kiba who was staring at Mimi. There’s no way the girl could fight off a bandit, much less a trained shinobi tasked with kidnapping her.

“I didn’t.” Mimi said. “I had an escort from the Mist. She returned home as soon as I was safely within the gates of Konoha.”

“You were left alone in a foreign land without an escort?” Hinata was scandalized. They would’ve _never_ just dropped a client off in a strange village where they didn’t know anyone.

“I wasn’t worried.” Mimi shrugged. She pulled Hinata into a hug. “We’re pageant girls, honey, we know how to talk our way through things.”

Hinata blushed. “I-I –“

_“Hinata couldn’t talk her way out of a paper bag.”_ Thought Sakura, aggravated. It was a strange thing to see, Mimi and Hinata were complete opposites, yet both had the same title. Mimi was outgoing and affectionate while Hinata was shy and… shy. Sakura wondered how Hinata _won_ Teen Miss Leaf Village, she figured it was because of her beauty, byakugan, and shy nature. _“Some guys like that, a girl who doesn’t talk and just blushes prettily when you ask her a question. But what do these judges want? A Mimi or a Hinata?”_

“Hey, Mimi?” Sakura asked.

“Yes my little lookalike?” asked Mimi.

“What exactly is my goal on this mission? I can protect you just fine, both off stage and on stage, but how am I supposed to _impersonate_ you?”

“You’re a ninja. Shouldn’t you know how to go undercover?”

Kiba sniggered.

Sakura wanted to facepalm. “I _know_ how to go undercover, but, exactly how do you expect me to impersonate you on stage?”

Mimi considered it. “Wear the clothes I’d wear, answer the questions the way I would, smile. That’s all there is to it.” She smiled.

Sakura knew that wasn’t all there was to it, if it was, she wouldn’t feel so inadequate right now. “Who exactly knows about me being your stand-in?”

“The Mizukage and the pageant coordinator.”

“And the coordinator is _okay_ with this?”

“Yeah. She said if someone is threatening me, they’re practically threatening all of the girls, so she supports having a ninja there.”

“I mean she’s okay with me pretending to be you?"

"Well, I’ll be coaching you a little, so it will be like my effort. Besides, they already know I can win a pageant. Who is your coach anyway?”

“WHAT?” Sakura said taken by complete surprise. “I thought you said you were my coach?”

“Unofficially, yes. But you’ll need a _real_ coach.”

Sakura turned to look at Kurenai with a pleading look. “Kurenai-sensei?”

Kurenai shook her head. “Sorry, Sakura, pageant rules. I can only coach one contestant. Although,” She leered at Kakashi.”We do have someone here who can help.”

Sakura followed her gaze. “Kakashi-sensei? HOW?”

“I told you,” Kurenai started “You’re not the first person to go undercover at a beauty pageant…let’s just say Kakashi-sensei here has experienced his fair share.”

“I was a bodyguard.” Kakashi clarified.

_“That’s what you get for bringing up Asuma, smart ass.”_ Kurenai laughed. “Yeah, but that one girl treated you like a glorified assistant, _and_ she used you in the talent portion.”

“What was her talent?” Asked Sakura wanting to know more about her sensei who kept so much of his life private.

“Ballroom dancing.” Kurenai laughed.

Her laughter infected the rest of the group, except Shino, who didn’t care. It wasn’t an embarrassing talent, but no one could imagine Kakashi ballroom dancing.

“I’d like to see that.” Said Mimi with a small smile.

It dawned on Sakura that she didn’t know what she would be doing for the talent portion. “What is your talent anyway, Mimi?”

“I sing.”

Sakura’s eyes widened in fear.

“Oh don’t worry. You’ll just mouth the words I sing backstage. It’s very simple.”

Sakura couldn’t help but worry. She couldn’t imagine singing in front of a crowd, much less _pretending_ to sing and making it look believable. _“What have a gotten myself into?”_


	4. Chapter 3

They made it to the first hotel without any trouble. They were still safely in Fire Country, traveling well-traveled roads in highly populated areas.

Since it was an escort mission for beauty pageant contestants, their accommodations were nicer than usual. The hotel had a hot spring on site.

It was Sakura’s first overnight mission outside of the Leaf Village since Naruto left and she had mixed feelings about it.

When Team 7 got sent to the water country for their first overnight mission Sakura was uncomfortable with the prospect of being the only _girl_ on the team. Even though her teammates were always professional, and Kakashi tried to make her as comfortable as possible, sleeping with her crush, the boy who had a crush on her, and a grown man still made her uneasy. She never fully got comfortable with it, but it didn’t bother her as much when she was tired from a day’s work and fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

Tonight Sakura would get to sleep in a room with _only_ women. But, she’d gladly give up that comfort to have Naruto and Sasuke back by her side.

The room had two queen-sized beds. Kurenai and Hinata would sleep in one and Sakura and Mimi would sleep in the other.

Kurenai stretched and put her things down. “You girls enjoy the hot springs. I think I’m going to have a drink before I get in.” Kurenai felt completely safe leaving her team of genin alone. The town they were in was safe, Hinata could behave herself, and Shino could behave himself while keeping Kiba in line.

Sakura, Hinata, and Mimi got settled before Mimi announced the hot springs were calling her name, and dragging the other two girls with her.

They relaxed into the water, Sakura and Hinata sighed gently as it soothed their tired muscles.

Mimi downright moaned. “I don’t think I’ve ever felt this sore in my life.”

Hinata and Sakura exchanged looks, being stabbed and getting hit hard enough to break multiple bones _really_ put things into perspective.

“So, Sakura,” Started Mimi, devilish look on her face, “That guy in the mask is your sensei right?”

“Yeah.” Sakura answered not sure where this was going.

“Do you sleep in a bed with him when you two go on missions?” Mimi raised an eyebrow.

Hinata had never been more thankful that her teacher was a woman.

Sakura sputtered and blushed bright red. “Kind of –“

She collected herself and thought back to the closest she came to sharing a bed with Kakashi.

_Team 7 was escorting Tazuna so that he could finish building “The Great Naruto Bridge.” They stopped at the safest looking inn they could find, which just so happened to be a seedy, grimy place with a bar downstairs. The bar was full of thugs and low-ranking missing-nin._

_Kakashi kept Tazuna and his genin close by as he went to get the key to their room. They would all sleep in the same room, despite the tight squeeze, in order to keep Tazuna safe._

_As they walked through the bar to their room, a man approached Kakashi._

_“How much?” he asked waving a bottle around._

_“What are you asking?” Kakshi’s eyes narrowed._

_“How much?” he gestured to Sakura. “How much for some time with the girl?”_

_Kakashi put his hand on Sakura’s shoulder. He ignored the man and led her and the others up the stairs._

_Tazuna, even in his drunken haze, gave Sakura a sad look, although she didn’t understand it at the time._

_Five small futons were crammed into the little room, which thankfully, had a small adjoining bathroom meaning they wouldn’t have to leave the room if they needed to go in the middle of the night._

_Sakura instinctively started to put her backpack on the farthest bed, so she would only have to sleep near one of her male teammates. She hoped it was Sasuke, her heart leapt when he put his backpack down next to hers, but Kakashi stopped him._

_Without a word, Kakashi gestured for Sasuke to take one of the beds on either side of Tazuna. Sasuke, obedient for once, picked up his bag and put it next to Tazuna’s._

_Kakashi’s eyes softened at Sakura’s confused, slightly embarrassed expression. “I’m going to sleep next to you tonight, because this is the most strategic place I can be if trouble comes through that door.” He ruffled her hair, a loving gesture, reminding him just how small she really was._

_Kakashi knew a ninja’s life came with sacrifices, but despite Naruto and Sasuke’s rough beginnings, he knew Sakura would have to make far more in the future. He knew in a few years time they’d send his little kunoichi on seduction missions. He knew even normal missions would carry an extra threat to Sakura, one her teammates wouldn’t have to worry about nearly as much. But here she was, twelve years old, eyes wide and innocent, not sure why a strange man wanted to buy time with her. Kakashi would do his best to keep her from the horrors of such men for as long as he possibly could._

_Tazuna exchanged a world-weary glance with Kakashi. Tazuna had been rude before when he called the genin “brats.” He knew he wasn’t perfect. He was drunk and grouchy, but he would_ never _look at a little girl the way some of the men in the inn looked at Sakura. He knew the team was assigned to protect him, but he was just fine with Kakashi making certain sacrifices to protect his genin._

Mimi’s grin widened at the far off look in Sakura’s eye.

Sakura caught Mimi’s eyes and turned even redder. “Well, genin are assigned to a team of three with a jonin leader. Kakashi-sensei is our leader and my teammates…” Sakura stopped sputtering, wrapped up in the pain of missing Sasuke and Naruto.

Mimi stopped smiling. “What’s wrong?” She placed a hand on Sakura’s back.

“Well, one of my teammates is off traveling with a famous ninja. It’s a really good opportunity and I’m happy for him. The other…he’s a missing-nin.”

“Ouch.” Mimi said. She wanted to know more but figured now in the bath wasn’t the best time to ask, so she decided to shock Sakura out of her funk. “So, your sensei, have you ever seen him without the mask?”

Hinata was interested now. She always wondered what was up with the mask.

Sakura gave a sarcastic laugh. “Under his mask is…another mask. He’s a weird guy.”

Mimi smirked. “Hmm. I like the mysterious type.” She shrugged.

Hinata blushed at the thought of Mimi and Kakashi together. “He’s really old Mimi!”

Sakura just laughed at the idea. It was hard for her to think of Kakashi-sensei as anything _but_ Kakashi-sensei. He _was_ old, he was never on time, he didn’t date, and the most action she ever saw him get was just reading porn openly.

Sakura knew Kakashi’s body count and she still couldn’t help but think of him as anything else but the man who trained her, ruffled her hair, and comforted her when she cried. _“Don’t forget he carried you to bed a few days ago.”_ Her inner reminded her. Why that girl was always trying to embarrass her, Sakura would never know. Yeah, Kakashi was a harmless old man.

Meanwhile Kakashi joined Kurenai at a bar near their hotel. Kurenai was already nursing a glass of honey wine and ignoring the heated looks she got from a few men at the bar.

Kakashi took a seat next to her. “Just water for me.” Kakashi told the bartender who gave him an odd look.

“You know you can take it easy right now.” Kurenai told him taking another sip. “We’re in a safe area, you don’t need to be on high alert, and I _know_ you can fight drunk.”

“Maybe I don’t want to corrupt my young students.” Kakashi said with a crinkle of his eyes.

“Please, you read porn in front of them. Your vice makes me feel better about being a lush.” Kurenai clinked her glass against his. “And about Asuma smoking.”

Kakashi pulled his mask down to take a sip of the water, catching the eye of every woman at the bar.

“Keep moving ladies, he’s gay.” Said Kurenai with an arm around Kakashi. She never understood why he insisted on hiding his pretty face behind a mask. _“So he can get even more attention when he takes it off.”_ She said inwardly.

Kakashi gave a light chuckle. “Am I?” he asked so only she can hear.

Kurenai rolled her eyes, she’d known him since childhood and heard more than enough stories about his exploits to last her a lifetime. She was sure most of them were just that, _stories,_ but a few were confirmed true. “The way you and Gai go on, some of us can’t help but wonder.” She knew for a fact Kotetsu and Izumo had a bet about those two being secretly in love.

Kakashi just laughed again. He wasn’t one for embarrassment.

Kurenai laughed right along with him. She knew Kakashi always respected the women he was with, he just wasn’t one to settle down, it made her happy she never had a crush on him like every other girl their age did when they were younger. _“Thank you, hopeless devotion to Asuma since the academy.”_

“So how did Hinata get into pageants?” asked Kakashi.

“The same way she did everything else,” Kurenai started. “Hyuuga politics bullshit.”

“How did she win?”

Kurenai laughed. “I’m not going to tell you her secrets, Kakashi, I know you want your little kunoichi to win.”

“Isn’t that the mission, she impersonates Mimi until she draws out the kidnappers, then Mimi can proceed with the rest of the pageant?”

“That’s _your_ mission. My team is strictly backup, and only if needed. Our main goal is protecting Hinata.”

“You’re a little protective over her aren’t you?” Kakashi liked to tease Kurenai about her “mama bear” nature. Gai was enthusiastic and friendly toward his students. Asuma was blunt and hands-off. Kakashi was laid back and cool. All of the teachers would protect their students to the death, but Kurenai was the one who fought battles she didn’t have to just to defend her kids.

Kurenai smirked. “Says the man who practically begged Lady Tsunade to let his student take this mission. You care about her.”

Kakashi’s eyes widened. There goes his cool, aloof personality.

Kurenai laughed at his dumb expression. “Your secret is safe with me.” Her eyes softened. “How is she doing, by the way?”

Kakashi sighed. “She misses Naruto and Sasuke.”

“Hinata misses Naruto too.”

Kakashi chuckled. Hinata’s crush was known to everyone _but_ Naruto and Kiba, both were oblivious. “It’s easier for Sakura to cope with Naruto’s absence. We _know_ where he is and they’ve been writing letters. We have no idea what’s happening to Sasuke right now. Sakura feels like it was her fault she wasn’t able to stop him before he left the village.”

“And you don’t?” Kurenai hoped she could get Kakashi to open up about how he was feeling about the whole ordeal too.

“Part of me runs through all of the different scenarios in which I could’ve stopped him, but what’s done is done, I can live with that, I’m not sure Sakura can.”

“You think this mission will help?”

“I think it will at least take her mind off of Sasuke for a little while and make her feel better, being on a mission again.”

Kakashi got up to leave and Kurenai called after him. “Hinata is _real_ competition, but it did help that Koharu was one of the judges.”

Kakashi nodded. That made sense. Koharu was stubborn and old-fashioned, she’d want a clean-faced, kind, graceful girl like Hinata over a glitzy beauty queen. Kakashi could just see Koharu bullying the other judges into picking Hinata.


	5. Chapter 4

The second day of travel had minimal trouble. They left their hotel in the middle of Fire Country and made their way to the next hotel on the water. It was at the very fringes of Fire Country before it became Water Country.

Along the walk, Sakura learned all about Mimi. She was the second oldest of five children and the oldest girl. They all grew up in a small house where Mimi shared a bedroom with her two younger sisters, Yuki who was two years younger, and Hamako who was seven years younger. She said Yuki was stubborn and a little lazy. Hamako was sweet, but had a bratty streak. Mimi’s older brother’s name was Ame, he was the family jokester and only a year older than her. Her younger brother’s name was Kairi, he was five years younger, and he turned everything into a competition. Mimi started babysitting for her parents and the neighboring families when she was ten, it was her first job.

_“I’m an only child…”_ Thought Sakura. _“I can’t imagine what it’s like having four siblings, much less sharing a room with two of them. I can’t believe she wanted to babysit other kids on top of that.”_

Mimi said she enjoyed having that many siblings even if they drove her crazy sometimes.

Hinata laughed, adding that she could relate. Hinata talked about her younger sister, Hanabi, and how they were close before Hanabi got picked to be the Hyuuga heiress over Hinata. Hinata said they still got along, but she was sad she didn’t see her little sister as much. She talked about her relationship with Neji, his competitive nature, and how they were growing closer. In addition to those two, Hinata frequently cared for the children in the clan. She was known as the best babysitter in the family because of her sweet demeanor and willingness to work.

Sakura learned other things about Mimi, her pink hair came from her great-grandmother. Her favorite food was mochi ice cream although she couldn’t have it very often as a pageant contestant. Her favorite hobby was reading romance novels. Sakura told Mimi she liked teen romance novels. Mimi told her she recently started reading more _risqué_ titles.

_“Maybe she and Kakashi-sensei would get along…”_ Thought Sakura.

Mimi’s goal, aside from ending violence against women and supporting kunoichi, was to win Miss Hidden Villages, become a musician and later a music teacher, get married and have slightly smaller family than her own. “There’s no way this body is having more than three kids.” Mimi explained, making Kiba blush.

Kurenai and Kakashi exchanged knowing looks, thinking back to when they themselves were sixteen. Kurenai didn’t want children back then, but Asuma was slowly convincing her. Kakashi still wasn’t sure what his future was going to look like, he was more about living in the present.

Just then, some petty thieves came out of the woods. Sakura moved to protect Mimi, Team 8 stood with their backs together staring down their opponents.

Kakashi had sensed them, but thought they wouldn’t be stupid enough to make trouble. From the looks of them, none were Shinobi. Most missing-nin were proud of their missing status and wore their headband with a scratch through it. There were about a dozen of them, even the genin could make quick work of them.

“Give us all of your money or else.” Said one of them. Kakashi wasn’t even sure the man was the leader, they didn’t appear to have a leader, if they did they’d probably know better than to attack a group full of Leaf Ninja.

Sakura looked to Kakashi. He gave her a lazy nod and she went on the offense.

“Mimi, stay behind me.” Sakura called to her.

Mimi, for once since Sakura knew her, looked scared.

“Mimi!” Sakura called again.

“Right.” Said Mimi quietly.

Sakura ran right up to the man who spoke and punched him so hard he went flying back into the trees.

Kurenai was about to step in, but Kakashi stopped her. “I think they can handle this themselves.”

Kurenai understood, it would be good training, and they could watch and keep an eye on Mimi if needed.

“Hey, you don’t get to have all the fun,” Kiba yelled at Sakura. “Come on, Akamaru.”

Akamaru barked and they quickly got into Fang-Over-Fang formation, taking out two bandits.

Shino raised his arm and a cloud of parasitic insects attacked six of the bandits.

A bandit charged for Hinata. She activated her byakugan and gave him a few swift hits to the chest, before turning to the next one.

Sakura took out the bandits, sending him flying for the trees with another hard punch. Once all of the bandits were doubled over in pain she dragged the ones she punched back to the road and tied them up. The rest of the genin tied up their own opponents.

Kakashi summoned Pakkun when the whole ordeal was over. “Could you tell the local authorities about this little problem?”

Pakkun nodded and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Mimi stared at the team in awe. “Wow. That was amazing.” She gushed.

“That was nothing,” Said Kiba making a muscle.

Mimi was less interested in him, looking at Sakura with pure admiration. “How did you get so strong? You’re such a tiny thing I didn’t think you’d be able to punch that hard.”

“It’s all in the chakra control.” Said Sakura, just a little cocky. She knew she had miles to go before she caught up with Sasuke and Naruto but her chakra control was always impressive, that’s why she was able to master so many of Tsunade’s techniques.

“And you,” Mimi turned to Hinata. “It didn’t look like the way you were hitting those guys would hurt that much, but they’re _clearly_ still in pain. And how do you do that with your eyes?”

Hinata blushed. “It’s my bloodline trait, my eyes allow me to see my opponents Chakra points and attack. The technique is called the gentle fist, it doesn’t look like much on the outside, but it does a lot of damage. “

Mimi turned to Shino with a sly smile. He’d acknowledge her presence sure, but she was used to guys falling all over themselves to talk to her, she wanted to see what made him tick. “I’m not going to lie, the bug thing was kind of creepy, but it seems pretty useful. You’re and interesting guy.”

“It is. And I _suppose_ I am.” Shino said simply, a little offended she’d call his bugs creepy. He was used to it, even _Kiba_ found his bugs creepy.

Finally Mimi turned to Kiba. “And you…” She directed her attention to Akamaru. “How does a cute little puppy even turn into a ninja? Thank you for protecting me.” She bent down to pet Akamaru who barked cheerfully at her and rubbed his face into her hand.

Kurenai smiled a knowing smile, poor Kiba, upstaged by a dog.

“Shall we get going?” asked Shino.

They group continued to the hotel. They didn’t run into any more trouble and everyone was happy to have a rest.

Kiba was starving, they immediately went to find food in the little seaside town, the smell of fried fish called his name. He invited Mimi but she said she wasn’t hungry yet, so he dragged Shino along with him.

Shino obliged, _someone_ had to babysit Kiba.

Kurenai once again went in search for a bar. She wanted to relax after a long day of traveling and watching her genin fight.

Kakashi insisted he was busy with something.

Sakura, Hinata, and Mimi went up to their room.

Sakura was happy to learn their room had a balcony overlooking the seashore. The three girls sat outside. Mimi breathed in the salty air and hummed gently to herself.

“Is it like this where you live?” asked Hinata who had never been to the Mist Village.

“Not quite.” Said Mimi. “It’s almost always misty where I live. It’s nice to see water so clear and skies so blue. It smells the same though.” Mimi laughed, seemingly out of nowhere.

“What’s so funny?” asked Sakura.

“You’re both really strong. I knew I was hiring a ninja, but I didn’t think you could pack a punch like that.” Mimi said to Sakura, then she turned her attention to Hinata. “And you, who knew such a sweet, mild-mannered little lady could beat up a bunch of bandits.”

Sakura and Hinata exchanged looks.

Sakura knew Hinata had to become a ninja because of her clan, in their academy days, Sakura couldn’t imagine Hinata hurting a fly, much less a human. That all changed when Sakura watched Hinata give her all in the fight against Neji. You don’t go back from seeing the class angel covered in blood because she doesn’t know when to quit.

Hinata always wondered why Sakura became a ninja. Her parents were bakers and didn’t have any expectations of Sakura other than to study hard and choose a career someday. Hinata figured Sakura only became a ninja to spend time with Sasuke, although she survived a lot longer than most of Sasuke’s fangirls, the exception being Ino who was from a ninja clan. Hinata figured it was Sakura’s strong friendship with Ino that helped her survive. She came to appreciate Sakura the more she learned about her. Natural advanced chakra control, intelligence only rivaled by Shikamaru and Neji, and a strong desire to protect her loved ones. Sakura was definitely not someone to underestimate.

“We sort of fell into it.” Sakura said, to put it shortly.

Hinata smiled and nodded.

“It’s funny, I actually know a Sand Village kunoichi on the pageant circuit. You guys are nothing like her. Well, you’re both gorgeous and so is she, and we get along but –“ Mimi laughed again. “She’s a force of nature. She’s a kunoichi who lets you _know_ she can kill you. Hell, she could probably kill most men with a look.”

“You’re talking about Temari?” asked Hinata.

“What?” Asked Sakura. She had to compete against _Temari?_

“Oh yeah, I forgot you memorized the orientation pamphlet.” Said Mimi smiling at Hinata. “You two know her?” she asked Sakura.

“Yeah, she competed in our Chunin Exams.” Said Sakura, getting that out of the way. “How did _Temari_ get into pageants?”

“No clue, babe, no clue.”

“Maybe it’s the same way I did, she’s a girl of noble birth, and has to represent her family on a public stage.” Hinata mused.

Sakura thought about the contestants she knew. Hinata: pure, clean-faced, sweet, and demure. Mimi: girly, kind, flirty, and a social butterfly. Temari: confident, willful, gorgeous, and sassy. How was she ever going to live up to any of them?


	6. Chapter 5

Mimi’s four-person hair and makeup team met them on the boat. Sakura was impressed with the size. It was slightly smaller than the boat they stayed in while escorting Yukie Fugikaze to the Land of Snow to film her latest movie, but it was much larger than the dingy little boats they took to the Mist while escorting Tazuna. As quickly as those thoughts appeared, Sakura shook them out of her head.

_“Don’t think about Sasuke. Don’t think about Sasuke.” She shook her head. “Naruto. Naruto is happy and safe training with Jiraiya. You got a letter from him last week. He misses you, but he’s happy and safe.”_

Sakura changed into the robe provided to her by the beauty team. Then she and Mimi met her styling team in their shared bedroom. Hinata and Kurenai were staying in the next room over and Kakashi, Kiba, and Shino were in the one next to that.

Sakura lied down in the chair provided by the beauty team noticing it was a lot more like one you’d sit in during a dentist’s visits than for a spa day. Hinata sat on one of the beds in the room to provide moral support during Sakura’s makeover.

Mimi stood over her watching intently. “You ready?”

“Yeah.” Sakura nodded.

Mimi clasped her hands together. “Alright. But remember, beauty is pain.” Her face darkened for a minute before her cheerful smile returned.

Sakura gulped.

The first thing they did was got work on her hair. The hairstylist ran the fine pink strands through her fingers. “You take pretty good care of your hair considering your profession, but it’s still not as lovely as Mimi’s. We’ll have to do something to soften it and bring out the shine.” Said the hairdresser.

Sakura scowled. She thought her hair looked just fine. It was perfectly healthy.

“You’ll also need extensions. Mimi’s hair is much longer than yours. We’re going to have to work extra hard to make _that_ look realistic.” The hairstylist took sections of hair extensions out of her kit and started placing them around Sakura’s head, glancing at Mimi every so often for reference.

When she was satisfied another woman came in with hot wax and waxing strips. Hinata and Sakura’s eyes widened in fear. By Hinata’s expression, Sakura could tell that not all contestants went so far to remove their body hair.

“Is this really necessary?” asked Sakura to Mimi.

“I’ve always thought so. You like it after, it makes your skin all nice and smooth.” Mimi said nonchalantly.

Sakura winced as the woman waxed her legs. It wasn’t so bad. Then the woman went to open up her robe.

“What are you doing?” Sakura yelped, trying to close it.

“Bikini wax.” Mimi explained.

“Really?!” Sakura saw her fear mirrored in Hinata’s eyes once again.

“You’ll be grateful for it when you have to wear a bikini on stage. It lasts longer than shaving and you don’t have to worry about razor burn.”

Sakura took a deep breath. Hinata moved closer to hold her hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. Sakura closed her eyes. “Let’s get this over with.”

She cried out as the hair was removed from her bikini line. She had been stabbed, punched so hard her bones broke, and exhausted to the point of delirium but nothing could’ve prepared her from the sensation of having her hair ripped out of her bikini line. Her cries startled Kakashi who came running to the door. The noise also got Kurenai’s attention who stopped him from entering.

“You don’t want to go in there.” Kurenai told him. She was pretty sure she knew why Sakura was screaming.

“My student just screamed bloody murder –“

“Just let me check on her first.” Kurenai suggested. She knocked politely. “Sakura, can I come in?”

“Sure.” she choked out, pelvis still stinging.

As Kurenai came in, Kakashi looked over her shoulder.

Sakura noticed him peaking in and closed her robe quickly. “Kakashi-sensei, get out!” She yelled.

Kakashi covered his one eye. “Sorry, Sakura. I-“

Kurenai slammed the door in his face. “I told him not to worry.”

Sakura was glad the next few treatments weren’t as painful as the bikini wax. The same woman who waxed her plucked her eyebrows, just a few here and there. “You have nice eyebrows.” The woman commented. “The makeup team usually has to fill in Mimi’s more.”

Mimi shrugged. “Nobody is perfect.”

Next the skincare professional got her hands on Sakura. She cleaned her skin, applied a full body and facemask, and removed both. Next she extracted the impurities from her face. Sakura winced as the woman popped a few of her deeper blackheads. She wiped her face clean again and applied a moisturizer.

Once her skin was clean, a stylist handed her a set of gray contacts to put in. Sakura leaned forward into the mirror provided. She couldn’t remember a time her skin looked so clear. It looked pink and soft, like a newborn’s. Being a ninja meant she was constantly sweating, usually out in the field with no running water and dirty surroundings, so skincare was something that she often had to forego.

Once she was done putting in the contacts, the makeup artist contoured her face to make it look more like Mimi’s. She finished the project off with a girly, natural look to match the one Mimi was currently sporting. Then the makeup artist let Sakura out of the chair. She was finally free to go.

Sakura walked up to the full-length mirror in the room, examining herself. She almost forgot what she looked like with long hair, but in a way, it felt like she was just looking at Mimi. The two had _similar_ facial features, but the contouring made them look like twins. The gray contacts furthered the similarities. The only things different about the two now were that Mimi was just a little taller and had bigger breasts. Sakura stood on her toes and held out the front of her robe, trying to get the full picture.

Mimi laughed. “My stylist will get you the rest of the way there, don’t worry.” Mimi came up behind her and gave her a hug. “Oh, I’m so glad you took this mission!”

Sakura smiled. She certainly looked like Mimi. Sakura had never been on a stealth mission before and was eager to prove herself. Mimi’s praise made her feel, for the first time since the mission began, like she could really pull this off.


	7. Chapter 6

Everyone was called to dinner on the ship. Mimi was eager to show everyone how similar she and Sakura looked now.

Sakura was a little more apprehensive. “I still don’t look _exactly_ like you. I need to be taller and well…” Sakura gestured to Mimi’s chest.

Mimi laughed. “You brought a real bra for this right? Not just a sports bra?” She asked. 

Sakura nodded.

“Give it to me.”

“What?” Sakura and Hinata said in unison.

“Just do it.” Mimi said rolling her eyes. She pulled out a pair of socks out of her bag and folded them just _so_ into the bra Sakura handed her. Then she handed it back to Sakura. “Try to put it on without messing up where the socks are. It should give you two extra cup sizes.” Then Mimi pulled out a simple white sundress from her suitcase. “You can change into this.”

“Okay, but how am I going to be as tall as you?”

Mimi pulled out a large bag. Inside were all sorts of hair accessories and styling products. She pulled out something that looked like a cross between a protractor and a comb. “Fasten this into your hair. Then pull the hair on top of that over. It makes your hair look higher, making you look taller.” It wasn’t perfect, but Mimi’s line of thinking was that men didn’t understand hairstyles well enough to realize that one girl had slightly higher hair than the other.

Mimi, surprisingly, gave Sakura privacy to change. Sakura took Mimi’s advice and did her best to keep the socks in place as she put on the bra. It felt strange, like she was trying to smuggle something and didn’t have any pockets, and there was the constant worry the socks would fall out.

Then she put on the sundress, it was tight across her chest, helping hold the bra in place.

When Sakura was decent, Mimi came back in and put the hair accessory in for her. Mimi was right, it did make Sakura look a little taller.

Sakura and Mimi looked at each other side by side in the mirror. Now they _really_ looked like twins.

“Ready to see how many people we can fool?” Mimi grinned evilly.

Sakura twitched when Mimi said that. Sure she _looked_ like Mimi now, but she didn’t know if she could _act_ like Mimi. “What? Right now?”

“Yeah, right now.” Mimi kept smiling.

“Are you sure that’s such a good idea?” asked Hinata. “Sakura has only known you for two days, she’s going to need a little more time with you before she can get the act down.”

Mimi shrugged. “So, this will be a baseline test. We’ll see how much effort she’ll have to put into pretending to be me in the future.”

Sakura and Hinata exchanged worried looks.

“It will be fine!” Mimi assured them.

Sakura took a deep breath and smiled. “Let’s do it!”

They went up to the deck of the ship where a table was set up. Kurenai, Kakashi, Shino and Kiba were already sitting down eating.

“What do you think?” Mimi twirled in the blue sundress she was wearing. “ _Mimi_ let me try this on so I can get used to being her.” Mimi nudged Sakura.

“Uh… doesn’t she look stunning everyone?” Asked Sakura, thinking to herself that Mimi was about as good an actress as Sakura was herself.

Shino nodded slightly. Kiba raised an eyebrow. Kakashi’s eyes crinkled.

“The two of you look identical.” Agreed Kurenai. She could tell which one was Sakura and which one was Mimi, but she wanted to build Sakura’s confidence. She was well aware that confidence could do wonders for a Kunoichi’s job performance, she witnessed it firsthand as Hinata grew more confident in herself.

Still, Kurenai could tell they weren’t fooling Kakashi or Shino either.

“Sit across from me, Mimi.” Kiba called.

Sakura walked over to the table and at across from Kiba. Mimi took the seat to her left, in between Sakura and Kakashi. Hinata took the seat to Sakura’s right, across from Kurenai.

Sakura could feel herself blushing, Kiba had never looked at her so intently before. She didn’t like it.

“So Mimi,” Said Kakashi carefully. “How are you enjoying your time on the ship?”

“Oh, it’s fine.” Said Sakura. “It’s a little nicer than the ship that brought me to the Land of Fire. It’s just a little bigger.”

Sakura did good to remember to compare the two experiences but she didn’t give a lot of detail.

The cook came and served them dinner. It was a simple grilled fish with rice and a lemon cream sauce. Sakura ate it as delicately as she could, copying Mimi’s movement. Sakura wasn’t a messy eater, but she wasn’t nearly as delicate as Hinata or Mimi.

“So, Mimi” asked Kiba with a mouth full of food. “Are the other girls on the pageant circuit half as cute as you?” He winked.

Sakura blushed. Hinata choked on her water. Sakura put her hand on Hinata’s back, she had a feeling it’s what Mimi would do. “Hinata is _plenty_ cute.” She said a little sterner than intended, she knew Mimi would’ve mentioned Hinata, laughed it off, and flirted right back. She didn’t think Kiba intended to forget Hinata was competing, but still she was upset his words put Hinata on edge.

Kiba blinked. “Well, of course Hinata is cute. I know her.” He said choosing his words more carefully this time. “But what about the girls I don’t know.” He winked again.

_“Is he trying to make Mimi jealous?”_ thought Sakura. “Well, let’s be honest, _no one_ is as cute as me,” her tone came off as annoyed.

When Mimi said these things, it didn’t bother Sakura, she understood that Mimi was confident and liked to pretend to be more in love with herself than she actually was. But Sakura felt like the words made no sense coming out of her own mouth, despite her efforts.

She continued talking. “But, yeah, the other girls are cute. Maybe a little out of your league.” It came out meaner than intended. Sakura added a twitchy wink at the end to try and lighten the mood.

Kiba blinked quickly. Then he squinted at her. “Sakura?” he asked.

“What?” said Sakura “No, I’m –“

“You’re totally Sakura!” Kiba laughed. “I knew it.”

Sakura puffed her cheeks. “No you didn’t! You were flirting with me just like I was Mimi.”

Kiba kept laughing. “Yeah, and you were _terrible_ at flirting back.” He looked at Mimi now. “Are you sure you want _her_ to impersonate you?”

“Kiba.” Kurenai said sternly.

Shino slapped Kiba upside the head.

“What was that for?” Barked Kiba.

Shino instead turned his attention to Kurenai. “I’ll explain the situation to him later.”

Kurenai sighed. “ _Shino should really go into teaching one day,”_ She thought. _“he helps me with Hinata and Kiba enough.”_

It was at that point Sakura realized she hadn’t fooled anyone. Clearly Kakashi, Kurenai and Shino knew the whole time. She felt deflated.

Mimi put a hand on her back. Hinata reached over and squeezed Sakura’s hand under the table.

“It was a good first attempt,” Kakashi insisted. Maybe Sakura couldn’t fool the judges who had watched Mimi perform her whole life, but she might be able to fool the crowds. “You’ll be more than ready by the time the pageant starts.”


	8. Chapter 7

Sasuke was sitting in a bar in the Land of Water. After a year, he had proven his loyalty to Orochimaru enough to be allowed on solo missions. This one was fairly simple, see what he could find out about the Three-tails. There was a rumor the beast was laying low in some lake.

He sat back on his bar stool, drinking the water he asked for. He thought about the last time he was in water country. He was still on Team 7. They fought Haku and Zabuza. He thought about his fight with Haku, surely he could best the boy in combat by now, not that he’d ever have the chance again.

Part of him wondered if Haku would do this very thing at his age; sit in a bar and gather information for his own master.

Sasuke quickly learned that bars in backwater towns didn’t care as much about minors being patrons as the bars in big villages did. He sipped his water and closed his eyes listening to the chatter in the bar. It was nothing interesting.

He picked up his kantana, put some money down on the bar, and started walking away.

“Pink hair, last seen leaving the Leaf Village.”

Sasuke froze. He only knew two people who fit that description, Sakura and her father. Somehow he doubted they were talking about Sakura’s father.

“Exotic. A real beauty queen.” The man continued.

Sakura _was_ beautiful. Sasuke blended back into the sea of bar patrons, seeming to examine the decorations on the walls rather than listening. He focused on a huge tuna fish mounted on the wall. He’d rather look at that than the pinup photo of a half-naked woman holding two beer mugs.

“The boss wants her. He’s willing to pay big bucks for this one.”

Sasuke closed his eyes. He should walk away. She’s not his responsibility anymore. She’s not his teammate. She’s not his friend. He should _just_ walk away and pretend he didn’t hear a damn thing.

“Absolutely gorgeous. The body on this one…”  
But _dammit_ if she wasn’t _his._

Sasuke waited for the man to leave the bar. The man, shady as he was, headed out toward the alley. Sasuke followed.

The man spun around noticing him. “What are you –“

Sasuke pinned him against the wall, kantana blade to his throat. “Tell me _everything_ about this pink-haired girl.”


	9. Chapter 8

Water country was a lot nicer than Sakura remembered it, not that her first experience was very pleasant. They were only in the Mist Village for a night before being sent on the first boat to the backwater islands under its protection.

Even the Mist Village was nothing compared to the lovely tourist city they docked in. Big centers of business were centered in between small, charming homes. Street markets were plentiful and vibrant.

Mimi explained it was one of the wealthier cities under the Mist’s protection. The tourism it brought in and acclaim it garnered greatly helped the land of water improve both its financial situation and its reputation.

Mimi was dressed plainly in a gray t-shirt dress. She brushed the hair of her _very_ convincing looking brown wig out of her face and breathed in the salty air, staring wistfully out at the row of colorful, charming little homes. “One day I’ll become Miss Hidden Villages and I’ll move my family here. I’ll marry a nice boy and we’ll travel all around The Land of Water teaching music to children.”

Sakura looked into Mimi’s eyes, which were hidden behind brown contacts. She didn’t know what to say. Mimi didn’t talk much about her village, other than mentioning it was small and not always a safe place, not as bad as Tazuna’s village, but not as safe as The Leaf Village either. Mimi preferred to talk about her family, what her parents did for a living, how she and her siblings passed the time, the things her mother cooked for dinner. Sakura could tell they were the most important people in the world to Mimi.

Sakura, dressed from head to toe in her Mimi disguise, knew she better get to acting like Mimi faster.

“Is the pageant held here ever year?” asked Sakura, looking through the pageant orientation pamphlet Hinata lent her.

“No,” Hinata explained. She was dressed in a pair of blue high wasted shorts, and a sleeveless, yellow button up tied at the bottom. “It’s held in a different village every year. Although it’s usually in a nice tourist area like this one.”

Mimi grabbed Sakura’s hand. “We should probably get checked in early, we need to talk to Chiharu about what’s going on.”

“Chiharu?” Sakura asked.

“Chiharu Yamamoto is the pageant coordinator.” Hinata pointed to her picture in the orientation pamphlet.

“Just a tip,” Mimi told Hinata, “She likes to be called ‘Chiharu’ it makes her feel younger.”

When they arrived at Chiharu’s office, she immediately threw her arms around Sakura. “Mimi, darling, glad to see you could make it in one piece. No one troubled you?”

Chiharu was a plump woman with big, red lips. Her large blue eyes were hidden behind red, cat-eye glasses. Her dyed black hair was pulled into a complicated up-do.   
Mimi let out a hearty laugh, causing Chiharu to turn her attention to Mimi. “Mimi, is that you?” Her eyes widened in disbelief. She looked from Sakura to Mimi and back.

Sakura stood rigid as a pole as the strange woman still held her in an embrace.

“Guess we did a pretty good job, huh?” asked Mimi.

Chiharu let go of Sakura and rushed over to hug Mimi. The two embraced and exchanged kisses on the cheek.

“We were attacked by some bandits,” Mimi explained. Then she pulled Sakura into a hug. “But my dear little lookalike, and my new friends here helped me through it.”

Chiharu adjusted her glasses and looked at the crowd before her. Her eyes settled on Hinata. “You’re Hinata Hyuga, Teen Miss Hidden Leaf Village?”

“Yes ma’mm.” Hinata answered.

Chiharu let out a hearty laugh. “Oh, don’t call me Ma’mm, my dear. It makes me feel old.”

“Yes…. Miss?” Hinata tried it out.

“Oh, aren’t you just adorable. Please call me Chiharu. And the rest of you are?”

“I’m Kurenai,” Kurenai said. “I’m Hinata’s pageant coach and also the leader of her genin team. This is Shino, and Kiba, our other team members. They’re tasked with protecting Hinata.”

Chiharu’s eyes glittered as they passed over Kakashi. “And _you?”_

“I’m Kakashi, Sakura’s team leader and now pageant coach.”

“I see, and are there more teammates joining us?” Chiharu glanced around the room, fully expecting two genin to jump out and startle her to show of their stealth abilities, it hadn’t been the first time it happened.

Sakura opened her mouth to explain, but the words wouldn’t come.

“They couldn’t be here.” Kakashi explained simply.

“Very well.” Chiharu didn’t ask any more questions. She knew shinobi training was complicated, way above her pay grade, in her opinion. “I’ll pull some strings to make sure the three of you can room together.” She gestured to Sakura, Mimi, and Hinata, handing them a room key. “As for the rest of you –“

“All we ask is that we’re on the same floor as our contestants. Like I mentioned,” Kurenai put her hands on Kiba and Shino’s shoulders. “We’re tasked with protecting Hinata.”

“Oh that won’t be too difficult.” Chiharu pulled out three room keys. “Pageant coaches sleep nearest to their contestants. Body guards are a few doors down from that.”

Kurenai and Kakashi exchanged confused looks.

Chiharu noticed. “This is a _very_ safe pageant. I’m very protective of my girls. And now that you’re here, I’m sure no one will dare to make trouble.”

Mimi clapped her hands with glee. “Perfect, is Asuka here yet?”

Chiharu’s eyes widened, then she looked at the floor. “You didn’t hear?”

“Hear what?” asked Mimi.

“Asuka won’t be working as your stylist this year. Her baby is –“

“Say no more.” Mimi said seriously. “My prayers are with her family.”

“I’m afraid we haven’t found you a replacement on such short notice.” Chiharu looked down sheepishly.

“We’ll manage.” Mimi assured her.

Hinata grabbed Kurenai’s hand, squeezing it gently.

“What?” asked Kurenai.

Hinata gave her the best puppy-dog eyes she could muster. “Hinata, I’m your coach, not Sak- Mimi’s.”

“But that doesn’t mean you can’t take Sakura shopping.”

“That’s a great idea!” Mimi cheered. “You have great style.”

Kurenai blushed. “It’s generally not how things are done…” she looked at Chiharu.

“Oh, I’m sure it’s fine. I’ll make an exception given the circumstances.”

Sakura dropped her bags. She changed out of her Mimi disguise, not wanting to risk any of the store employees recognizing her and noticing something was off.

Mimi took a brown pencil and re-applied the brown color to her normally sparse, pink eyebrows, trying to make herself look as plain as possible.

Then Mimi whisked Sakura away to the dozens of colorful boutique shops they passed on their way into Chiharu’s office.

Their first stop was a lingerie store. Somewhere Sakura, and Hinata for that matter had never been.

“You want me to go in _there_?” asked Sakura.

Kurenai blinked slowly, not understanding what the big deal was. “Yes.”

Hinata squeaked. “Is this _really_ necessary, Kurenai-sensei?”

Kurenai looked down at the blush on Hinata’s face. “The undergarments we packed for you are fine because they’re supposed to fit you. Sakura isn’t as… developed as Mimi is and we need a way to fake that.”

Mimi nodded her head in agreement and looked at Sakura. “I never meant for you to wear a bra stuffed with socks the whole competition, besides, we couldn’t do that during the swimsuit portion.”

Sakura took a deep breath. She hated bra shopping. Her cup size had barely changed since she was twelve. She went all the way from an AA… to an A. She hearing the same woman who sized her every year make remarks about her flat chest. _“Oh you’ll grow eventually, my cousin was a B cup until childbirth and now she’s a D.”_

Sakura wouldn’t feel so self-conscious about her chest size if people would just stop talking about it. “Let’s get this over with.” Sakura grumbled.

They walked inside and weren’t greeted by the saleswoman. She barely looked up to meet their eyes as she pressed buttons on the cash register.

She was dressed in a form-fitting black dress and her black hair was tied in a sleek ponytail. Sakura guessed she was about twenty-eight, nothing like the matronly old woman at the bra store by her apartment.

“We need a push-up bra, for this one.” Kurenai spoke to her as she placed a hand on Sakura’s back. “Preferably the kind that adds two cup sizes”

The woman looked Sakura up and down. “What size are you?”

“Thirty A.” Sakura responded.

“Head into the fitting room, I’ll bring some out.”

Sakura tried on bra after bra. Some nude, some black, some with plunging necklines, some with no straps. The saleswoman adjusted the fit of the bra with cold fingers, making each one fit Sakura perfectly.

Then Mimi came into the fitting room. They compared chest sizes and came to the conclusion that the sizes looked similar enough to fool the judges.

Mimi paid for the bras and they went to their next stop, a swimsuit shop by the beach.

Sakura gawked when she saw the hot, tan, shirtless man working the register. She gave Kurenai a mortified look.

“Don’t worry,” Kurenai said. “We won’t be asking him to assist you.”

Hinata also stared at the man, blushing deeply. Sure she had seen Kiba and Shino shirtless, but that was when they had a reason to be, she couldn’t understand why this man was dressed this way in sales setting.

Kurenai and Mimi looked through the bathing suits, trying to find something that was Mimi’s style, but would also give Sakura the illusion of more cleavage.

Sakura and Hinata tried on sunglasses in the back of the store, praying the shirtless salesman wouldn’t talk to them.

“Sakura,” Kurenai called her over.

Sakura left Hinata alone, hiding behind the sunglasses display.

“We found one.” Kurenai handed her a deep red, pushup bikini. Sakura was grateful for the bottoms, which at least looked like they would cover _most_ of her butt.

“Are you sure?” Asked Sakura to Mimi.

“It’s what I would wear. You’re going to look totally hot. It’s definitely our color.”

Sakura put it on in the fitting room and found she had to agree with Mimi. She could imagine herself wearing the swimsuit at the beach with her friends on one of the rare occasions they got a break. What she couldn’t imagine, was parading in front of a bunch of judges in the bikini.

Sakura changed out of the bikini and back into her clothes. She came out of the fitting room to find Mimi flirting with the salesman. What surprised her, was that he was flirting _back_.

Mimi didn’t look particularly attractive in her disguise. She still had a nice figure, but the only makeup she wore was the brow pencil, and she made sure she looked as plain as possible before she left.

_“That’s the magic of confidence.”_ Sakura thought to herself. _“How am I going to pretend to be her?”_

Mimi noticed Sakura staring and winked. She dismissed herself from the conversation and skipped back to Sakura.

“Was I right or what? Don’t you look hot?”

“It fit really well.” Sakura said. Handing the bikini to Mimi.

Mimi went to pay for the bikini when Sakura noticed something, a wall full of sarongs. In particular she saw one in a cherry blossom print calling her name. She picked it up. “Mimi.” She whispered loudly to get Mimi’s attention.

“That’s adorable!” Mimi cried.

Sakura looked from the sarong, to Mimi, to the salesman.

Mimi got the message. “Fine, but only because of the cherry blossom print.” Mimi took the sarong from Sakura and had the salesman ring it up. She squeezed Sakura’s hand and spoke in a low voice. “By the end of this, you’ll feel confident enough to forgo the sarong.”

“If you say so.” Sakura muttered back.

“The hard part is over.” Mimi said as they left the swimsuit shop.

Hinata looked happier than anyone to leave the shirtless salesman behind.

“Now we just need an outfit for you to wear in the talent competition and an evening gown.”

They went to the formal store where Sakura changed into the strapless pushup bra to see what kind of dress she would need.

They settled on a strapless, mint green dress with an A-line silhouette that fell went down to her calves. It was covered with a layer of green tulle adorned with embroidered flowers from the chest to the knee, and large, fabric flowers below the knee.

Mimi covered her mouth when she saw Sakura in the dress. “I only wish you didn’t have to wear contacts.” Mimi said softly enough for only the two of them. “The dress really brings out your eyes.”

For the evening gown they picked a deep- red off-shoulder dress that went to her ankles and split at the thigh.

Sakura never felt more beautiful than when she tried on those dresses. She came of the dressing room beaming as Kurenai, Hinata, and Mimi all made noises of approval.

She could do this. She could be Mimi. She wouldn’t let her down.


	10. Chapter 9

Hinata, Mimi, and Sakura were in their room unpacking. Hinata laid out their clothes for the orientation breakfast the next morning while Mimi continued to coach Sakura through how to act like her.

“Use your best table manners, take small bites, follow Hinata’s lead.” Mimi suggested.

Sakura nodded.

“Be very friendly toward the other competitors. If they’re nice, be affectionate with them. I love hugs.”

Sakura nodded. It wasn’t usually her first instinct to hug new people, even if she got a positive impression of them.

“If someone gives you attitude, give them attitude right back. I am not a pushover.”

Sakura nodded. She could do that, she just wasn’t sure if she could do it as cleverly as Mimi did.

“Oh, if you see a cute boy, flirt with him.”

Sakura blushed. That would be hard. She loved Sasuke, she couldn’t think about love, or even attraction without worrying herself sick. Just a year ago she still had crushes on movie stars, now she found any boy she looked at was just a boy, nothing more. Nothing like Sasuke.

They were interrupted by a loud banging on the door.

“Mimi, you bitch, let me in!” A girl’s voice called from the outside.

Sakura quickly performed the transformation justu, making herself taller, more shapely, making her hair longer, and changing her eye color. “Hide.” She whispered frantically to Mimi.

“I think that’s –“ Sakura pushed Mimi into the bathroom and shut the door.

She and Hinata prepared for a challenge.

Just then, the door to their hotel room was blown open by a huge gust of wind.

When the dust cleared, Temari walked in, glaring at Sakura. “Mimi, you’ve got some explaining to do.”

“Temari?”

“After three years, all of a sudden you want to room with a Leaf Village girl.”  
Her eyes passed over Hinata.

“No offense,” Temari continued with less intensity.

Sakura understood Temari wasn’t here to hurt Mimi. But why was she so intense?

Temari’s eyes narrowed at Sakura. “ _You’re_ not Mimi.”

She removed her fan from her back, ready to strike.

“Leaf Village girl, get behind me. That contestant has been replaced with an imposter.”

“Temari!” Mimi rushed out of the bathroom in her disguise.

“Mimi?” Temari examined her closer. She was wearing a wig and contacts but it was clear to her this girl was Mimi.

“Guess the cat’s out of the bag.” Mimi said with a sheepish grin.

Temari slowly blinked her eyes.

Hinata closed the door to the hotel room to give them some privacy.

Temari sat on one of the beds quietly while Mimi told her the whole story about the threats, how she hired a stand-in, and how she was coaching the girl to act like her.

“Why didn’t you just tell me this guy was bothering you?” asked Temari. “I could put a stop to it.”

“You have to worry about competing too.” Mimi shrugged. “I didn’t want to take you away from your goal of becoming Miss Hidden Villages.”

“That’s not really my goal.” Temari reminded her. After three years of sharing a room together at pageants, they had gotten pretty close. Mimi knew Temari only did pageants to bring honor and awareness to the Sand Village. She was pushed into it by her father.

“But bringing glory to your village is.” Mimi stressed.

“So who is this guy who’s after you anyway?”

“Someone from the Sato family.”

“The Sato family?”

“You probably haven’t heard of them. They’re a small crime family here in the mist. Small and secretive, that makes them deadly.”

“What about your family?” Asked Temari.

Sakura felt ashamed. She hadn’t even thought to ask who was taking care of Mimi’s family.

“Lady Mei Terumi assigned some jonin to protect them. I’m very grateful.”

“So who did you get to be your stand in?” Temari turned her attention to Sakura for the first time since Mimi reappeared.

Sakura flinched. She realized she had never canceled her transformation justu.

Temari watched as, in a puff of smoke, the only things that changed about Sakura were her shorter hair, her green eyes, a few inches, and a smaller bust.

Temari’s eyes widened in realization. This was the girl on Sasuke’s team. This was the girl who faced Gaara with just a kunai. “Sakura.” She remembered the girl’s name. You don’t forget someone who would face a tailed beast with a single weapon.

“Hey,” Sakura waved nervously.

It was Temari’s turn to be nervous. The last time she saw this girl, they tried to kill her.

She looked from Sakura to Mimi and back. “You two certainly do look alike.”

“That’s why she picked me.”

“Isn’t she perfect!” Asked Mimi, changing the tone of the conversation with her enthusiasm.

“I’d say she is.” Said Temari offering a compliment. She stood up from the bed. “I have to get back to my brothers now –“

“Gaara is here?” Asked Sakura, fear flashing across her face.

Temari didn’t miss the change in her features. She remembered that Sakura wasn’t there on their last mission, the one where they rescued the Sasuke retrieval team from the three remaining members of the Sound Five. Sakura didn’t know about the change in Gaara.

“Yes.” Temari said.

“Oh.” Sakura couldn’t think of anything more to say. Gaara was one person she never wanted to see again. She hadn’t gotten the feeling of his sand crushing her out of her head. She wasn’t sure she ever would.

Temari waved goodbye to the rest of the girls with an awkward smile. Then she headed down the hallway to where her brothers were staying.

She knocked on the door.

Gaara opened it for her.

Kankuro was sitting in the room eating a cup of instant ramen. “Did you find Mimi?” he asked, slurping some noodles into his mouth.

“Yeah, some crime boss creep is threatening her.” Said Temari sitting on the bed opposite Kankuro. She was feeling pretty deflated after the awkward interaction with a girl her family once tired to kill.

“Well let’s put an end to it.” Said Kankuro grabbing his puppet.

“Put that down. It’s no one we’ve heard of. We’ll have to do our research if we want to be any help to her.”

“Research? Mimi needs protection now!”

Temari laughed at Kankuro’s enthusiasm. It was no secret that he accompanied her to the pageant as her bodyguard in order to see Mimi. “She has protection, a body double.”

“A kunoichi I hope.” Said Kankuro, crossing his arms.

“Yeah, actually.” Said Temari.

“She’d have to be one hell of a looker in order to impersonate Mimi. Or have excellent chakra control to keep up a transformation justu all day.”

“Both actually.”

Kankuro, and even Gaara, turned their heads to look at Temari. Who _was_ this girl she was talking about.

Temari decided to tell them, they needed to know who the Leaf Village sent. “Her body double is Sakura, as in, Sasuke’s teammate.”

“Oh.” Said Kankuro. The girl Gaara tried to kill. In his opinion she was cute, but nothing like Mimi.

“We have to help her.” Gaara blurted out, drawing his siblings attention.

They looked at him, surprised at the outburst.

“It’s the right thing to do,” Gaara explained. “It’s the least I could do after we… after I…” Gaara couldn’t say it. He was so ashamed of who he used to be. “After everything that happened.” He finally finished.

Temari gave him a sympathetic look. “Of course we’re going to help Sakura with her mission. I’m not letting anyone touch Mimi.”

“Or Sakura?” asked Gaara.

“Or Sakura.” Temari agreed.

“Could I see that?” asked Gaara gesturing to the copy of the pageant orientation pamphlet that Kankuro had been sitting on. It was his own personal copy. He liked the picture of Mimi in it.

“Uh sure.” Kankuro passed it to Gaara, surprised he’d want to look at it at all. He never showed much interest in girls.

Gaara sat down on the bed next to Kankuro and thumbed through the pamphlet, coming to rest at the picture of Mimi. He examined her face. She certainly looked similar to Sakura.

Sakura’s face was burned into his memory. Sasuke’s teammate. More importantly, _Naruto_ ’s teammate. The girl who loved so deeply she’d face a tailed beast to keep her loved one safe. The last time he knew a love like that was from his uncle, his uncle who betrayed him. Seeing a love like that again made him angry back then.

Gaara still thought about her, a lot. How was she doing now that Sasuke had gone? Did she know he tried to bring Sasuke back? Did Sakura think of him as much as he thought about her? Gaara knew he had to help her. He had to make this right.


	11. Chapter 10

Sakura woke up at 5:00 a.m. an hour she would’ve thought normal for most missions, but ungodly for the one she was in now.

“Wake up.” Hissed Mimi. She was already awake, wearing a tank top and yoga pants. Her hair was up in a ponytail and although her skin was makeup free, it was perfectly clean and polished.

“The breakfast isn’t until eight, why do I have to be up so early?” Sakura grumbled.

Mimi rolled her eyes, not that Sakura could see it. “Because, we have to get you ready. It takes a lot of work to make me look as good as I do and you still don’t seem fully comfortable with my Mimi-isms.”

Sakura sat up in bed. “Mimi-isms?”

“My mannerisms, my manner of speech, everything that makes me, me.” She smiled. “Mimi. Get it?”

Sakura yawned, not even bothering to cover her mouth. “I bet Hinata is still asleep.”

“She’s in the bathroom, actually.”

Sakura craned her neck to look in. Hinata had left the door open. She was wearing a bathrobe and her hair was protected by a cotton headband as she applied a face mask.

“Hinata?” Sakura asked.

Hinata looked over at her. “I have really sensitive skin,” She admitted like she had just admitted to having an incurable disease. “It takes a lot of work to keep it looking clean and healthy. You’re welcome to use any of the products I have, Sakura.”

“That won’t be needed.” Said Mimi giving Sakura a squeeze. “We have our own.”

Sakura got up out of bed and Mimi pulled her into the bathroom, examining her in the harsh, white light that made Sakura squint.

“Your skin looks pretty good because you just had a facial, so we shouldn’t do too much to it.” Mimi dug through her toiletries case and handed Sakura a bottle. “This is face soap. It will gently cleanse your skin.”

Sakura rolled her eyes. “Yes Mimi, believe it or not I know what face soap is.” Just because she was a ninja didn’t mean she didn’t take pride in her appearance. She and Ino learned long ago from gossip magazine that they shouldn’t be using bar soap to wash their faces.

Mimi smiled. “That’s the first sassy thing you’ve said to me since you took this mission. Now you’re going to have to practice saying it how I’d say it.”

Sakura blinked at her.

“Go on.” Mimi encouraged.

So she was serious. “Oh honey, of course I know what face soap is, do you know how much work it takes to make me look this fine?”

“Better.” Mimi smiled and clapped her hands together. She handed Sakura a bottle of shampoo and a bottle of conditioner. “I know you know what those do.” She smiled.

Sakura got the message. She got in the shower and stripped off her clothes tossing them to the other side of the curtain. She washed her hair and face like normal, wishing the rest of the beauty routine could be a simple as this.

“Don’t stay in too long, it will dry out your skin.” Hinata told her.

This was advice Sakura had heard in the past, unfortunately, she’d rather have the scalding water soothe her sore muscles than listen to skincare advice.

Still, she turned off the water and reached out for a towel, drying her self off.

Mimi handed her a bathrobe, which she took, tying it around her and focusing on patting her hair dry.

Hinata was waiting on the other side of the shower curtain to get in. She got into the shower once Sakura was out. Carefully reaching a hand out and hanging up her bathrobe on the towel rack.

The water turned on followed by a high-pitched cry of “Sakura!”

Hinata sounded truly distressed.

“What’s wrong Hinata?” Sakura asked concerned.

“This water is boiling! How can you stand it?”

It was the first complaint Sakura had ever heard from Hinata.

“Sorry.” Sakura mumbled.

“It’s fine,” Said Hinata sighing as she turned the water down to a more reasonable temperature.

Sakura made a mental note to turn the temperature down before getting out.

Mimi gestured for Sakura to sit on a stool she had pulled in front of one of the mirrors. She waved a hairdryer at her.

“Shouldn’t your hair team be doing this?” Asked Sakura.

“Only for the competition. We’re expected to do everything ourselves for related events.”

Sakura let Mimi dry her hair and apply the extensions, carefully folding in the special comb that made Sakura’s hair look higher, making her look taller.

In the meantime, Sakura cleansed her face with toner and put on a light-weight moisturizer to prepare her skin for the makeup.

Mimi applied a light layer of foundation and contoured Sakura’s face to look more like her own. Then she put on a light blush. “You should put the contacts in before I do the eyes.” She suggested.

Sakura took out the gray contacts and popped them in. Then Mimi applied a natural looking eye shadow, mascara and a soft pink lipstick.

Sakura left the bathroom to discover that Mimi set out an outfit for her, along with the pushup bra and a pair of underwear that Sakura packed with her. She wasn’t sure how she felt about Mimi touching her personal things. _“How to be Mimi,”_ Sakura thought to herself. _“Constantly push other people’s boundaries.”_

She put on the underwear, grateful for the familiar feeling as she put on the strapless pushup bra. The band was tight and uncomfortable, but she wouldn’t have to worry about it slipping. Then she slipped on the form fitting, green bandage dress. She examined herself in the mirror, she looked nice, but the dress would do little to protect her from the elements.

Sakura grabbed a white cardigan out of her own suitcase and put it over. She looked a little more conservative that Mimi normally did, but at least she wouldn’t get cold.

Hinata came out of the bathroom next, her hair was dried and styled so it parted closer to one side then the other, a headband embellished with pearls held her side-swept bangs in place.

She went into her own suitcase and pulled out a white sundress with multi-colored polka-dots and took it into the bathroom with her to change. When she came out she looked cute and conservative.

Maybe a little too conservative. Sakura thought she looked like a little girl going to tea with her grandma rather than a young lady.

Sakura was amazed by the time that she looked at the clock it was already 7:45 a.m.

She was called out of her thoughts by a knock at the door.

“Are you ready?” Kurenai asked from the other side.

“Yes, ma’am.” said Hinata, pulling Sakura out with her.

“Make me proud!” Called Mimi.

Sakura was surprised to see Temari when they stepped out into the hallway. She wa wearing a sleek white dress with a print of eyes in different shapes and colors. Then she saw Gaara, her blood ran cold and she instantly froze.

“Hey.” Temari offered, giving an awkward smile.

Gaara stared back at Sakura. The look in her eye, she was afraid, what happened to the girl who faced him with a single kunai? He didn’t like it. He didn’t like the way fear looked on her at all. Clearly he still had a lot to atone for. “I’m here to help.” He said in the softest voice he could.

“Surveillance he means.” Said Kankuro who stepped forward. Sakura didn’t even notice him without the makeup, but the voice was unmistakable. “We can’t have anything happen to you lovely ladies, Hinata, _Mimi._ ”

“Right,” Said Hinata. She bowed slightly. “We’re very grateful for your protection and the protection afforded by my teammates.”

“We’ll be meeting up with your teammates later.” Kankuro smiled. “It turns out Kiba and I work pretty well together.”

“I work well with Rock Lee.” Gaara said to Sakura.

“Lee isn’t here.” Sakura’s voice cracked. _“Why would he even mention Lee?”_ She thought. _“Hasn’t he done enough damage without bringing up Lee?”_ Sakura turned away and put on her best Mimi voice. “We better get a move on, those mimosas aren’t going to drink themselves.”  
“Aren’t you a little young?” Asked Temari with a laugh, it was the type of joke Mimi would make, maybe Sakura was getting better at this.

“A lady never reveals her true age.” Sakura waved at her to move along.

Gaara looked down in shame. _“I always say the wrong thing.”_ He thought.

Hinata took Sakura’s arm and led her down to the banquet area of the hotel where the breakfast was being held.

Temari followed them and took a seat next to some girls who were already seated, then she waved Sakura and Hinata over.

“Wow, it’s so nice to meet you all.” Hinata gave the other girls a sweet smile. “You must be Karui from the Village Hidden in the Clouds.”

“Hey,” Said Karui.

“And you’re Kurotsuchi from the Village Hidden in the Stones.”  
“Nice to meet you.” Said Kurotsuchi.

“I’m Hinata from the Village Hidden in the Leaves. And this is –“

“Mimi Mitsuya. The one and only Cherry Blossom of the Mist.” Sakura flashed her best Mimi smile.

Karui and Kurotsuchi looked at each other and raised their eyebrows.

“Careful Mimi, if you keep throwing that title around, eventually it will lose its meaning.”

“Just like you nearly lost to Shikamaru in the Chunin exams?”

Kauri laughed. “I heard about that. How did the Kazekage’s daughter nearly lose to a kid who nearly failed out of the academy?”

“I made him cry uncle didn’t I?” Said Temari with a hint of annoyance. Yes, Sakura was getting _much_ better at being Mimi.

“I just want you all to know,” Said Kurotsuchi. “I believe we’re all winners. It’s so important that we’re going to get our issues out there.”  
“Especially when you come from such a small land.” Said Karui.

Sakura nodded. The Land of Water was even smaller than the Land of Lightning. 

“That’s so true,” Said Hinata. “There are so many small areas underrepresented in the Land of Fire –“

“I wasn’t finished.” Karui cut her off.

Hinata gave her a fearful look. She didn’t mean to speak out of turn.

“Did it sound like I was finished?” asked Karui.

“I’m sorry.” Hinata said in a small voice.

“What are you apologizing for?” asked Temari. “She’s obviously let the high altitude of her land affect her brain.”

“Are you talking to me?” Asked Karui.

“Yeah, I’m talking to you. I’m looking at you.”

Before Karui could fire back a remark, Sakura interrupted. “Question, in the Land of Lightning don’t you have a lot of weather based techniques?”

“Uh, yeah.” Said Karui, not sure why the civilian girl wanted to talk jutsu.

“So how do you know if there’s a storm coming? You hear a large crack of lightning and it just turns out to be your neighbor working on his technique?”

Hinata laughed harder than she planned to. It had been a while since she had a good laugh and couldn’t stop.

“She thinks I’m funny.” Sakura smiled.

Upstairs, Gaara, Kankuro, Kiba, Shino, and Kurenai were using Kakashi’s room as their base. Gaara rubbed his eye, as the sand materialized into an eyeball on Temari’s dress.

“You’re sure this will work?” asked Shino.

“Temari chose that dress for a reason,” Kankuro explained. “Gaara’s sand eyeball will blend right in.”

“I’ll be able to see everything Temari sees.” Gaara explained to the others.

Shino sent out a few of his insects to gather intell downstairs.

The bugs flew in just as Chiharu took her place at the podium. “Welcome, welcome. I hope everyone got a good night’s sleep. After breakfast, we have the photo shoot and rehearsal, and then the preliminaries start tomorrow.”

The contestants clapped.

“They will of course be MC’d by our very own Jiraiya the Gallant.”

Sakura blanched. _“They’re seriously letting this pervert MC this event.”_

“I wonder what happened to Tenya.” Whispered Hinata.

“Who’s that?” asked Sakura.

“He’s that popular astrologer from the Land of Lightning.” Explained Temari. “He claims to be psychic.”

“Never helped us win any battles though.” Karui rolled her eyes. “Anyway, he couldn’t make it this year, something about Mercury being in retrograde.”

“Sakura,” Hinata whispered. “If he’s here, than you don’t suppose Naruto is too?”

Sakura put her hand over her face. “I really hope he isn’t. If he finds out the pageant is in danger he’s going to come in here Rasengan ‘a blazing and wreck our whole plan.”  
Hinata nodded. The love of her life wasn’t one for tact.

Jiraiya approached the podium. “Thank you, thank you, Chiharu. Isn’t she ravishing? All I know is that I wake up every day and say ‘who is that old man wearing my pajamas?’”

Everyone laughed but Sakura. She actually _knew_ Jiraiya and she didn’t find him funny.

“You know, when I was first agreed to do this, I thought I was going to be MC’ing the pageant for adults.” Jiraiya let out a short laugh. “But it’s an honor to MC for you young ladies.”

_“So that’s it.”_ Sakura thought, taking a bite out of a rice ball placed on the table. _“He thought he’d be around grown women parading around in bikinis. At least he’s made it clear he’s not interested in a bunch of teenage girls.”_

Sakura’s eyes wondered over to Temari, specifically the big black eyeball popping out of her dress. “Kami!” she shouted.

Everyone turned to look at her.

“Sorry,” Sakura said, “I had a bite out of my rice ball before praying.” Sakura got on her knees. “Dear Kami, please forgive me for not praying before taking a bite out of my rice ball.”

Upstairs, Gaara blanched. It was his fault Sakura broke character. He wanted to explain his eyeball plan before she went downstairs, but she wouldn’t listen. She was too afraid. If he was going to help the team catch the guy who wanted to hurt Mimi, they’d have to find a way to win Sakura over.


End file.
